When you’re sick, the right foods can ease symptoms, keep your energy up, and help your body recover faster. What works best depends on whether you’re dealing with a cold, a stomach bug, nausea, or a fever, but a few staples show up across nearly every type of illness: broth-based soups, ginger, bananas, and plenty of fluids.
Why Eating Matters When You’re Sick
Your body burns more calories when it’s fighting an infection. A fever increases your metabolic rate with every degree your temperature rises, meaning you need more energy at the exact moment you least feel like eating. Skipping meals entirely can leave you weaker and slow recovery. The goal isn’t to force down a full dinner. It’s to get enough calories, fluid, and nutrients in forms your body can handle without making symptoms worse.
Best Foods for Nausea and Upset Stomach
Ginger is one of the most reliable natural remedies for nausea. Its active compounds block a receptor in the gut that triggers the vomiting reflex, which is the same receptor targeted by prescription anti-nausea medications. Fresh ginger tea, ginger chews, or flat ginger ale (let the carbonation settle first) can all help calm your stomach. Even small amounts make a difference.
The old BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) is fine for a day or two when your stomach is at its worst, but Harvard Health notes there’s no need to limit yourself to just those four foods. Other bland, easy-to-digest options work equally well: brothy soups, oatmeal, boiled potatoes, crackers, and plain dry cereal. Once your stomach settles, adding cooked carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, skinless chicken, eggs, and fish gives you the protein and nutrients your body actually needs to recover.
Best Foods for a Cold or Respiratory Illness
Chicken soup isn’t just comfort food. A study published in the journal CHEST found that chicken soup significantly inhibited the movement of white blood cells called neutrophils in lab testing, and it did so in a dose-dependent way (more soup, more effect). Since the miserable symptoms of a cold, the congestion, sore throat, and fatigue, are largely driven by your own inflammatory response rather than the virus itself, this mild anti-inflammatory effect may explain why chicken soup genuinely helps you feel better. Both the chicken and the vegetables in the soup contributed individually to this activity.
Honey is another strong option for coughs. A systematic review in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found that honey performed about as well as the common cough suppressant dextromethorphan and significantly outperformed another popular over-the-counter antihistamine for reducing cough frequency and severity. A spoonful in warm water or tea coats the throat and can quiet a cough enough to let you sleep. One important note: honey is not safe for children under one year old.
Citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries, and other vitamin C-rich foods are worth eating throughout a cold. Large doses of vitamin C won’t prevent you from catching a cold, but taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg per day may help shorten how long it lasts. Getting vitamin C from whole foods also gives you fluid and natural sugars for energy when you need it most.
Zinc-Rich Foods and Lozenges
Zinc lozenges containing more than 75 mg per day of elemental zinc shortened colds by about 33% in clinical trials, according to a review in Frontiers in Medicine. That’s roughly a full day or two shaved off a typical cold. The key detail: the lozenge composition matters. Products that contain citric acid or other additives can bind the zinc and prevent it from being released in your throat, where it needs to act. Zinc acetate lozenges appear to be the most effective form. For food sources, oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, and lentils are all high in zinc, though lozenges deliver it more directly to the throat during a cold.
Best Foods for a Stomach Bug
Viral gastroenteritis (the “stomach flu”) strips your body of fluids and electrolytes fast, especially if you’re dealing with vomiting and diarrhea. The single most important thing you can do is rehydrate. The World Health Organization’s oral rehydration formula uses a specific balance of sodium and glucose to help your intestines absorb water efficiently. You don’t need to mix your own medical-grade solution. Drinks like Pedialyte follow this principle, and even a simple combination of water, a pinch of salt, and a small amount of sugar or juice can help.
Once you can keep fluids down, start with the blandest foods you have: plain white rice, dry toast, saltine crackers, or a simple broth. Avoid dairy, fatty foods, caffeine, and anything highly seasoned until your digestion stabilizes, usually within 24 to 48 hours. A large study of nearly 1,000 children with acute gastroenteritis found that the popular probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (sold as Culturelle) made no difference in recovery time compared to a placebo. Diarrhea in both groups lasted about two days regardless. So don’t count on probiotics to speed things up during a stomach bug.
Fluids That Help the Most
Water is the baseline, but it’s not always enough on its own when you’re losing fluids through sweat, vomiting, or diarrhea. Here are your best options depending on what you’re dealing with:
- Warm broth: provides sodium, a small amount of calories, and warmth that can soothe a sore throat or ease congestion.
- Herbal tea with honey: combines throat-coating benefits with gentle hydration. Ginger or chamomile are good picks for nausea.
- Electrolyte drinks: critical for stomach bugs and high fevers. Look for options that balance sodium, potassium, and a small amount of sugar without excessive sweeteners.
- Diluted juice: mixing apple or grape juice with equal parts water gives you some glucose and fluid without the sugar concentration that can worsen diarrhea.
- Coconut water: naturally contains potassium and electrolytes, making it a decent option for mild dehydration.
Avoid alcohol entirely. Coffee and other caffeinated drinks can increase dehydration, so save them for when you’re on the mend.
Foods to Avoid While Sick
Some foods are harder for your body to process during illness and can make symptoms worse. Greasy, fried, or heavily spiced foods are the most common culprits for worsening nausea and stomach discomfort. Dairy can thicken mucus for some people during respiratory infections, though this varies. Very sugary foods and drinks, including full-strength sports drinks, can draw water into the intestines and make diarrhea worse.
Raw vegetables and high-fiber foods like beans and whole grains are nutritious when you’re healthy, but they require more digestive effort. If your stomach is already struggling, stick with cooked, soft, low-fiber options until you’re feeling stronger. You can reintroduce your normal diet gradually as symptoms improve, usually starting with lean proteins and well-cooked vegetables before adding back anything rich or complex.